My Synth Ableton Workflow // Creating Stems and Loops with External Hardware in Ableton Live

Head to www.squarespace.com/RickyTinez to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using promo code: RICKYTINEZ // A step by step video on how I use Ableton Live to create stems with external hardware, aka synthesizers. Ableton Live has a great device that handles the latency and allows you to send midi to a synth and record audio in a single track! But we can take it a step further and create new loops from those loops.
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00:00 We we talkin about
00:55 How to connect Ableton to a synthesizer
01:34 Ableton Preferences midi settings explained
04:00 Setting up the External Inst Ableton Track
06:03 Potential midi problems
08:23 Quick recap Ableton External Instrument Setup
08:59 The end result is awesome!
11:41 How to save Ableton Ext Inst as a template default
13:17 Squarespace promo code 2023
14:57 How to record external synth instruments into Ableton
20:13 Find new loops within your loop, mega tip!
21:36 Final recap I swear
23:12 Just press record
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#abletonlive #synthesizer #musicstudio

[@coyley72]

For a complete novice this video is invaluable. Thanks for taking the time to explain, Ricky.

[@celdrichanfgarn5168]

Agree 💯

[@benjaminborowski]

I love your recording style, Ricky, and the education is invaluable. I laughed at 16:45 when you got distracted with the vibe and then laughed "okay...um...where was I". Inside the ride, cleary. New sub!

[@kevinleguillouklg]

I do exactly like you, but I *group* both the External instrument and the Record Track. That way I can add my FX chain to the Group itself and have it apply to both tracks : the live synth and the recording. Super useful and that way you don't have to commit the wet signal to the recording. This setup also works with external effects : for instance I group my synths tracks in a Compressor Bus that has an external effect (rack compressor) to apply a classic house pump. That way, if I'm not in the studio I can just temporarily replace the external effect with a software effect.

[@RickyTinez]

Holy crap! that's genius.. so it sounds the same on both tracks.. 🤯 -- i used to not do this because i was using a midi controller that was getting so annoying to open and close groups for recording specific clips but i'm past that point now haha

[@mmoncur]

This is brilliant, thanks for the tip!

[@ivory7699]

Just got my first desktop synth today, this was perfect timing! Great video as always Ricky

[@HieronymusLudo]

This is the first explanation I've found that makes sense to me with regards to building a live looping setup... Thank you!

[@gioni_mango]

That whole "committing your audio" part is a great workflow tip. Id never get stuff done otherwise, thinking there are always improvements to be made. And i love your point of it actually opening up new creative paths :)

[@RickyTinez]

Exactly! I was at a point of writing down patches and session numbers just so i could go back to the patch incase i wanted to change something later. Did i ever do that? Nope. haha!

[@nathax8174]

Hi squidward

[@NyndeLOL]

This was very helpful even for a person with everything already setup (multiple synths in a rack). Your MIDI scanning trick is magic

[@thewolfgirlliberation]

Thank you. This exactly what I needed to see right now. I'm wanting to do something in an acid style and had been looking at upgrading by buying some of soft synths in my ableton standard. Now I can just loop my korg minilogue and tweak it live. I'm going to love doing that when it's not so late. Thanks mate 👍

[@chasetaylor3173]

I’ve loved watching your studio grow over the years

[@TheLordGU]

It’s been a while, but I had so much fun just watching you having fun … it almost instantly made me return to my rig and start messing around with stuff. Thanks a lot!

[@RickyTinez]

Thank you GU! You're welcome back anytime

[@franzlypa4982]

the hint with the external instrument in the midi track is brilliant-thanks! 🖖

[@philphilphil]

Fantastic, Ricky. Thanks for sharing this. Super powerful and simple.

[@brendonsmith8025]

Great video! Thanks for sharing and Happy new year🎉🍻🤘🏼

[@THEREALDATALORD]

Brilliant explanation of the Track settings. Thanks Ricky.

[@bluecliffsynthesis6685]

Great tips & inspiration in this. Digging it.

[@markwar6353]

Hi Ricky! I really wanted to thank you for this amazing video! I had stopped using Live because of synchronization problems between analog4, tr8S, etc., finally all my favorite toys. Until last night I was a frustrated man! completely! And then, in 20 minutes everything changes! In a few simple words you explain everything! So I tried all that this morning and everything works perfectly, no need to crop the pieces anymore, it's a real pleasure and I finally understand why Ableton Live is used so much. Yet I have read tutorials on the subject and for years!!! but nothing too extraordinary. Thank you so much Ricky. I love your videos, by the way, you made me buy an MPC live 2 and made me want to play with the samples! and that too, thank you very much Mr. Ricky.

[@richardjames111]

I can't "like" this video enough!!!!!! This is what i needed to see!!!!!! Absolutely great stuff!!!!!!! Thanks :D

[@kogdanikogda]

You are awesome, man! Thank you for such a great example!

[@laurenupshawesq]

Watching Ricky jam makes my heart happy.

[@ftlaud911]

Thank you for this video. Greatly appreciated!!! Going to jam out later.

[@shiftedfocusmusic]

Awesome video. Learned a lot from this.

[@ascensionrecordings]

i do this for my ju06a great way to get full control of it with my midi keyboard

[@IsotonikStudios]

Always on point!!

[@willh7352]

Oh yep, the minute I came across the External Hardware instrument, been doing this with my old Yamaha PSR-280. you da man Ricky

[@lukeward4619]

So good at the 21 minute mark. I need to start doing this with my resampled audio!

[@Funkbutterfly]

Dude, I've definitely asked you this before :D. Thank you SO much. You are the greatest. Much love.

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

Love this type of video, thanks for doing it Ricky! That old lonely MPC1K CF card chillin there though...😢 OOOOOOOoo mystery synth plugged into 9/10! 😀 I've been working on getting my own studio setup in a way that I can either sequence using the DT or via DAW without recabling. - it's been challenging and I think I may have finally figured it out but hopefully was worth the effort.

[@wolfhands139]

Just started messing with Ableton and was wondering how to do this with OP1 so thanks a lot for this

[@andycordy5190]

Your take on this is really inspiring. Whether or not you could have played those cut ups, you jumped on them, right out of the recording and knew what you wanted. It seems odd, when everyone has so many software sound generators, to be using hardware instruments in Ableton but for those of us with a love of hardware, this just entirely justified my obsessive acquisition syndrome😂

[@outterspace1]

It’s lovely here ❤

[@tragicwill]

Another fantastic video

[@infamousSneakattack]

This is game changing info for me I don’t know why I was always intimidated of this side of hardware/ production, thank you for sharing this

[@kingobeast8528]

You sir are an educator. big ups!

[@PLONMUSIC]

Gracias gracias Ricky , you change my life ❤

[@DJeMo]

Always an inspiration station up in here, cheers big sir, ten hut Sir Yes Sir

[@cameronoconnor5364]

SO useful. Thank you.

[@aaronsaarela9883]

Geezer mode engaged from the jump! Awesome.

[@2morningz]

Waving my hands with you!

[@seoverus7805]

Tip - Before selling your hardware to upgrade/downgrade path ..spend a few hrs jamming like this for future designer snippets of sound from the machine you just sold :) Did this with my funky Novation X station & got hundreds of stems, Nice one Ricky !

[@mundelator]

Very helpful, thank you Ricky ! I did the mistake to get the audio from the external in instead of resampling the external instrument track itself. And of course the recordings were never properly aligned. Until now 🙂

[@FranciscoFraiz]

thanks dude, very useful

[@degstep9968]

Thank you very much!! You help me

[@KalvinistKyle]

11:28-11:36 there’s this dreamlike sound that happens. That’s a sound I would love to capture and use.

[@pleggli]

I have all my external device presets saved as groups with a tuner directly after the input for all devices that has non digital tuning. I have also made a M4L midi effect device that replaces the midi data with long tones shifting between 3 octaves (root note selectable) for getting into tuning mode with the press of a button.

[@EZBOT_]

Enrique you are the best!

[@wdehner76]

Ricky - long time viewer, great video and super helpful how you broke this down. I’ve been missing some major opportunities on catching those happy accidents due to not using external instruments in Live. I’ve only been piping audio into it and using SLMK3 for midi. Looks like I am reworking some things today in the studio to align with what you just walked through. 😉 Thanks for the great content and awesome approach to breaking things down!

[@RickyTinez]

Thanks for watching Will! Have fun and i appreciate the support as always.

[@alim_puyo]

Thank you for these Videos! Setting up the routing with external gear in a Template can be a real pain but it's so worth it. I have a weird issue where my Bass Station II sometimes gets CC information that turns down the filter and other controls but I don't know why! It may be from another source or there is some kind of a CC-Loop. What also annoys me is that if I want to play an external Synth directly as well as with the Push, (so midi in all directions) there is not really a way to do it. At least I'm still tinkering and trying to find the best solution for myself. Your content helped a lot in understanding latency related issues and is very inspiring. Keep it up!

[@quetshupfa]

this is worth its time in gold

[@808Wood]

I really needed to see this vid....sad cause I been messing with this stuff for years....but yay! good vid

[@MMCEnsemble]

This is a great video, it is very helpful with great explanation. thank you. Do you have a video for synching LFO's on hardware like the Peak with Ableton clock?

[@bipedal_earth_roamer]

This whole time I've thought those synth racks were so much further back. And you just reached right over.

[@matthewy393]

Thought the same haha

[@RickyTinez]

stretch armstrong 💪🏽

[@leftmono1016]

I'm not much of a DAW user but that trick moving the loop point around is really clever! Excellent video this 😀👍

[@RickyTinez]

That's why i like samplers! some have a looper mode where you can change start point. OR what i do is record a 1 bar loop for 2 bars(to give myself material to play with). Then set triggers for that loop every bar on the sampler and play with the start point

[@leftmono1016]

@@RickyTinez - it’s certainly made me think about recording much longer loops into the Digitakt, fixing a length and then playing with the start point. Always on the lookout for happy accidents 😀👍

[@seen632]

you got the easiest to understand vids on this subject , Bravo

[@catarina1902]

not that it matters because this video has much more important, relevant and great info, but it's actually cmnd + coma (cmnd + , ) rather than the 'less than' symbol to open the settings. This works for any software in your computer. ctrl + , for windows i believe.

[@mmoncur]

Thanks! This is basically what I do and I'll refer people to this video that explains it better than I can. Three more tips: 1. Freeze/flatten works on external instrument tracks but it does do the recording in real time. I usually duplicate the track then freeze/flatten so I have an audio version. Your way works too and sometimes I do that. 2. Sometimes I want to automate the external instrument. You can group the external instrument, expand the macros, and then "Midi learn" one or more knobs, and then they become available as automation in the track. Unfortunately when you save the instrument rack in your user library it won't remember the mappings-- this is a fix I've wanted since about Live 4 but Ableton doesn't seem to care much about external instruments. You can save it to a template for when you start a new track though. Alternately you can use clip automation and set a specific MIDI CC # but I don't usually go that far. Since #2 is so fiddly I usually end up doing what you do, recording a bunch of knob movements live. 3. After recording I name the audio clip with the synth bank/preset so I can always find it when I decide to re-record for whatever reason.

[@chateautemp]

Is freezing to another instrument track more or less like recording the jam that RT was doing there at the end? I love all these tips but often the jam is the easy part but getting it onto an album is the part that's missing..:)

[@pandyneo107]

Thanks

[@toddgattfry5405]

Nice!! Do you have 'typical' levels and dynamic ranges for the different stem types (perc tops, bass, chords etc)? Maybe just a standard level and dynamic range for all of the stems? Cheers!

[@neaumusic]

Thanks!

[@RickyTinez]

Yo! Neaumusic! Thank you for the support!!

[@elifan2523]

Great video. Can’t you sync the arp and the step sequencer on the GM through midi?

[@JeanNicolasArtaud]

Hi mate! First thanks for all knowledge and tips you share, really awesome ! My question is when should i plug one jack on my audio interface (Aka mono) and when should i plug 2 (Aka stereo...) when i use your technic ? Maybe you have a video explaining that already ? I have not found it

[@AlienFm1]

Awesome Video... Great Job.. Do you have on on midi Programing, Using of the CC.

[@TrickmanTerry]

Hey Ricky, thanks for this vid. I'm usually DAW-less by personal pref. Couldn't get my head around the details of hardware synths and utilizing them in Ableton Live and making them play nice together so I just didn't. Now this will make me revisit that option because you explain it so well. Hopefully this method works with adding other hardware synths in the mix as well. BTW, what drum machine were you using off camera? Thanks. 🙏

[@ChumpyDumps]

You can freeze an external instrument track and it’ll record the audio for you without having to route things. I’ll usually just duplicate the MIDI track if I want to keep that data and then freeze the track and then flatten. Saves a little bit of time imo.

[@majestic.feminine]

Been away from music software for over two decades. So I'm a newbee here. I got Ableton 11 Live w. Push for my old TX7, QX21, Sound Canvas 55 and old KX88. Added an Integra-7 and looking to add a soft-keyed controller-like analog type synth (Oberheim or VOX? Open to suggestions. Is that what I see in your setup?). Of course electric guitars, mikes & a real piano will complement it all. Mulling over getting Supreme Drummer3 .. But I absolutely love learning all these new things from you. Bits an pieces, here and there. Thanks for the help. You're so cool, calm and collected 😎. Thank you for being inspirational!

[@RickyTinez]

Hey Toni! Thanks for the kind words! hmmm, Its tough to find a key bed that feels great, is a synth, and doesn't break the bank haha. I love any of the sequential keyboards (literally the keyboard mechanics, i can do without some of the synths) I hear the Arturia synths feel pretty good according to reviews i've seen online. I've just never tried them myself. What you might be into is just a plain'ole midi controller! That way it can control Ableton alongside your Push, but play some of the instruments like a synth and be routed around to different rack gear you have. The Launchkey by Novation is a fun option since it integrates with Ableton Live extremely well. I use the Launchkey 37 in my setup.

[@majestic.feminine]

@@RickyTinez Cool! Thanks for the ideas on what to research. I do like the idea of maximizing Ableton interoperativity. Have to think what I really want to do for a smoother workflow encouraging inspiration rather than setup issues..

[@neaumusic]

this is awesome and your lighting / stage setup is amazing, just wanted to comment that the image is kinda dark on my phone even at maxed out brightness, not sure if use final cut pro but publishing in HDR on a PQ timeline with MaxCLL set might help with this (to let the highlights go brighter if you raise the any of the gain). anyways lol, thank you for this video

[@underwaterbreathing]

rickaaaaaaaaay ma maaaaan 🤙🤙🤙

[@Rawdio1]

great video! was waiting for you to touch that big blue thing under the Gma though haha, any video coming soon on the wave6 or did I miss it? ;) peace!

[@SLRPS]

3rd wave 😍 damn sonnn..

[@Riddle99-v7q]

Damn this making me want to acquire an actual hardware synth! My wallet is looking at me pretty nervously though haha. Greetings from Finland!

[@compucorder64]

Oooh, a wild Groove Synthesis Third Wave in the House. Really interested in this one, how does it sound?

[@ales_shi]

Thanks for the great video! I wonder why do you prefer not to use midi cc for external synths. Wouldn’t it be much easier to twist filter and have it recorded as automation in ableton instead of re-recording audio every time as in case with reverb on gma? I’m just wondering because I’ve been using this kind of setup for some time and still looking for the best workflow.

[@saber5401]

So general question.... when we get into self production we have a tendency to accumulate gear, we spend time learning new instruments never really knowing one inside and out. In 2016 i had a full blown studio with tons of gear, I moved to S.A. and use ableton and push with a Komplete audio 6 and headphones. Now i actually make music every tome i sit down in front of my push and ableton.

[@sonicmistress]

At last!....A 'Live' Video that actually shows people how it 'works' instead of just banging on pads and making a 'beat' - So many Videos forget to say how the backend is set up and imagine so many people buying Midi Controllers for Live and expecting it to work out the box....Nothing is really that simple, please do more Ricky about the Set Ups and signal chain, even how you organise your Loops/Samples etc as can imagine there are so many good ones out there that hard to keep track of everything! (I know there are other Vids out there but trawling through hundreds of 'Let's make some toons' Videos is tiresome and the only other good hands on one I've seen is from Rachel Collier over on the Ableton Channel. Nice Ricky and thanks.

[@pooshNchums]

Hugely helpful! What is the drum source?

[@BRAATZUnlimiteD]

hey man! thank for the great tip :) ! btw, where did you get that wallpaper? or is it some insulation cloth?

[@Jamesk1212]

You should make a Ableton coarse

[@blacrabbit5838]

Hey Ricky, I wanted to know if you use an audio interface with midi, use that midi out into a midi thru box and open up the amount of midi channels available? Trying to plug in a bunch of synths! Thanks A lot

[@PsychologyAcademia]

Ricky i sold my Octatrack but thinking of getting another just for looping stuff like this.

[@westlee]

When do we get your 3rd Wave review!?

[@raelic3]

I was thinking the same. Hoping to have mine soon (first already made)

[@hasan7786]

Curious to know. Back when I had a Matriarch, id have to go through that process of turning "local mode off" to do what your doing in this video. Is that not an issue when using an external instrument plugin or is the midi doubling up but we just cant hear it? To be clear, are th enotes your triggering when playing the grandmother, also triggering it when coming form ableton as well? I could probably just find out in a few minutes but i thought id start the conversation:) I'm always tuning local mode off so my keys dont trigger the synth, only th emidi out form the DAW.

[@domting8973]

mind if i ask do you use librarians to save patches or you have a way to have them snap shotted in ableton? would be great to see a tutorial on that, especially with digital synths that dont have dedicated synths, many thanks in advance

[@elitebeatagent8993]

Is there a link to the driver error compensation video? Thanks!

[@DanielSantallaa]

But, how does your usb hub look like? How are sending the sound data to the pc? Are you using a mixer or what?

[@someoneanonymous1]

Great video Ricky. Wouldn't you need to turn "LOCAL OFF" on the Moog to avoid Midi loop?

[@RickyTinez]

i've had a midi feedback loop occasionally on other synths but not yet on the Moog. I can see that happening and i always wondered how to avoid this!

[@someoneanonymous1]

@@RickyTinez Local Off on my synths (Korg Triton or the Moog when sending CC messages) avoids this problem. Because otherwise the synth gets notes or CC both from keyboard /knobs and from Ableton which receives them from the synth and sends them back to the synth. Local Control Off makes the synth ignore anything happening on it and listen only to midi messages.

[@illegalgiant_]

Hey Ricky! Just bought ableton and a push and think i’m going to return it. I used bitwig before and it clicked more for me for whatever reason. Have you ever tried it? Anything you love about ableton you can’t do without!? Simpler is a big sell for me but ableton costs the big bucks

[@NondoPondo]

My Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock "Pro" keeps crashing. Using to power monitor also. So maybe too much, but the bandwidth should be way under based on my hardware specs. May I know which HUB you are using please?

[@arjanpetersen]

How do you go about arranging? Are you recording directly into arrangement view? Are you using “take lanes”?

[@Ddjram]

What synth or drum machine were you using to cut the kick and hats?

[@TheColorofQuantum]

Something I can’t seem to find info about, is what settings to shoot for when running a synth into an audio interface. I can’t never tell if I’m running it to hot from the synth adding too much gain from the interface

[@kaneely4112]

Hey Guys i need help, ive setuped my Korg Miniloque xd how shown in the video. And when i record i receive midi notes in my track, but when i play them there is sound coming from the "external instrument" track, no audio in any way. So what should i do?

[@jonckheerebart9002]

Can you send me video how to route to a motu midi interface multiple synths, drums?

[@Geepstar]

Thanks Ricky. The only question I have is when you record the volume level is quite low? Wouldn't you want that higher? Or doesn't it really matter? I have never gotten to the mixing part using the Peak and Hydrasynth, but I am wondering how you do that?

[@nalinjain7343]

is this better than overbridge for elektron?

[@Govwski]

I'm chaining an mbase 01 into the kick of my mfb, mbase plays though speakers but when everything is run into ableton the kick of the mbase won't play though, when plugged out the kick from the mfb plays into ableton. any ideas on how to fix this?

[@valterbeicinha9633]

Hey! so is it possible to do a sequence midi in a sequencer and then record only the midi in AbLive?

[@georgegreen8836]

How many gigs of ram is your laptop brah? I’m in the market for a new apple and was wondering if 32 gigs of ram is enough… Cheers! and happy holidays!

[@Heleno.]

Hi, I use Keys Step Pro to control and sequence some digital synthesizers installed in Ableton, including Dune 3, Arturia Pigment, etc.. I create music which is composed of several Synthesizer Presets. When I'm playing the song live, and I need to change from one Preset to another, I go into the Sound Bank of the respective Synthesizer and select the Preset to change. I ask: Is there a way in Ableton itself, or a Plugin, that I can select the Presets of each Synthesizer and from this selection/mapping I can activate the preset that I will use? As if it were a screen that showed the Tracks for each Synthesizer, with their respective pre-selected presets. Is there a more practical and agile way to do this?

[@laughingthrushmusic5269]

I am having a great time syncing my Live to my Digitakt via midi. Is there a way for Live to receive only tempo and not rely on DT for start/stop? I need to me able to press record in Live and it not be reliant on the DT for start/stop control. I need Live to follow only DT tempo and to stay recording no matter how much DT starts or stops. Please help!!

[@TheBoyWithTheGuitar]

my peak introduces nasty noise when connected with usb or midi to the computer. what do you do to work around it? d.i.-box?

[@cloudrun654]

Hi Ricky, is there a laptop that you recommend for recording with ableton? Mac too expensive and there are so many PC to sift through. Any help appreciated!